世間想要收藏帝王玉璽和印章的人多，但真正收藏的人少，而研究的人更少。原因是它們的數目稀少，大部分藏於博物館，加上它們大部分都是昂貴，一般人的經濟是不許可的。近年，玉璽的來源是來自歐美各大拍賣行。

 

Many people in the world want to collect imperial jade seals and stamps, but few actually do, and even fewer study them. The reason is their rarity; most are kept in museums. Additionally, they are mostly expensive, which is not affordable for the average person. In recent years, the sources of jade seals have come from major auction houses in Europe and America.

 

我居住於美國六十多年，年輕時喜愛收藏中國皇家古物，我對清代玉璽有特別興趣，收藏時間要超過數十年了，尤其是印章和其背後的故事和歷史。

 

I have lived in the United States for over sixty years. When I was young, I loved collecting Chinese royal artifacts. I have a particular interest in Qing Dynasty jade seals and stamps. I have been collecting them for several decades, especially the seals and the stories and history behind them.

 

正如在我的藏品中有一枚「子臣颙琰」的玉印(圖一a, b. c) ，是嘉慶皇帝的印章，在嘉慶還未是皇帝之前，他的名字為〝永琰〞，但他在位後，嘉慶皇帝認為自己名字〝永琰〞中的〝永〞，是一個常用的漢字，不管是官方還是民間，使用頻率都非常高。如果自己繼續在名字中使用”永”字，將會引起一系列的巨大改動。此後文武百官和天下老百姓既不能在名字中使用〝永〞字，也不能在書信中提到這個字。與其如此，不如自己改一不常用的生僻字。這樣一來，文武百官和天下老百姓就能繼續使用〝永〞字了，他的兄弟們也不需要改變名字了，啟不善莫大焉? 於是，嘉慶帝放棄了〝永〞字，改為〝颙〞。從此，〝永琰〞變成了〝颙琰〞。

 

Just like the jade seal “Zichen颙琰” (Figure1, a.b.c) in my collection, which is the seal of Emperor Jiaqing. Before he became emperor, his name was Yongyan(永琰). However, after he ascended the throne, Emperor Jiaqing considered that he character Yong (永) in his name was a commonly used Chinese character. Its frequent use both officially and among the common people would necessitate significant changes if he continued using it in his name. Thereafter, neither officials nor the general populace could use the character Yong (永) in their names or writings. Rather than impose such restrictions, he decided to change his name to a less commonly used character. This way, officials and the general populace could continue using the character Yong(永), and his brothers wouldn’t need to change their names either. How benevolent! Therefore, Emperor Jiaqing abandoned the character Yong (永) and changed it to Yong (颙). From then on, Yongyan(永琰) became Yongyan (颙琰).

 

子臣颙琰之印

Seal of Zichen Yongyan

印面 Face

圖一 a

(Figure 1a)

印側面 Side Stamp

圖一b

(Figure 1b)

 

 

 

 

 

 

印底 Bottom Stamp

圖一c

(Figure 1c)

 

 

 

 

         在《清仁宗實錄》卷324，第277頁有以下一段: 「嘉慶皇帝在嘉慶四年(1799)十一月高宗(乾隆)奉安大典的悼文忠說:”子臣日侍慈顏，每以敬天法祖、勤政愛民四大端為誨，而以為人君止於仁二語時存於心，行之必本之誠，此三年中常承之訓，子臣服膺勿敢失，並告之子孫以為心傳家法也” 。」

 

     由以上可以看到嘉慶起初三年雖然是皇帝，他還要聽命於太上皇乾隆帝，所以嘉慶雖然是皇帝，還是用〝子臣颙琰〞稱號。

 

         In volume 324, page 277 of the “Veritable Records of the Jiaqing Emperor”, there is the following passage: 「In November of the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), in the eulogy for the grand ceremony of Emperor Gaozong’s (Qianlong) enshrinement, Emperor Jiaqing said:” As your humble servant, I daily attended to your kind visage, always being taught to revere Heaven and emulate our ancestors, to diligently govern and love the people. The teaching of the four great principles was instilled in me, and the two words “be a benevolent ruler” always stayed in my heart. I must practice them with sincerity. This has been the constant instruction over the past three years, which I, as your humble servant, have always kept in mind and dared not forget. I also pass this on to my descendants as our family’s guiding principles.”

 

         From the above, it is evident that during the first three years of Jaiqing’s reign, although he was the emperor, he still had to obey the orders of the Retired Emperor Qianlong. Therefore, even though Jiaqing was the emperor, he still used the title “Zichen Yongyan”.

 

         從網上和我們的藏品(圖二)可以看到有白文 (陰文)和朱文 (陽文)的子臣永琰和子臣颙琰，奇怪的是子臣永琰是白文，而子臣颙琰是朱文。

 

From the internet and our collection (Figure2), we can see that there are both white script (intaglio) and red script (relief) versions of Zichen Yongyan (子臣永琰) and Zichen Yongyan (子臣颙琰). Interestingly, Zichen Yongyan (子臣永琰) is in white script, while Zichen Yongyan (子臣颙琰) is in red script.

 

永琰和颙琰印款

Different Seal Script Styles

     

圖二

Figure 2

 

 

從網上又找到一篇嘉慶寫的石鼓文 (圖三)，在子臣颙琰敬書之下有朱印〝子臣颙琰〞，其字體和我們的印相似 (圖四) 。我們認為我們所藏的印是嘉慶就位後和乾隆訓政時用的私印。

 

From the internet, we found another stone drum script written by Jiaqing (figure 3). Below the respectful inscription of Zichen Yongyan (颙琰), there is a red seal of Zichen Yongyan (子臣颙琰), with characters similar to those on our seal (figure 4). We believe that the seal in our collection was used by Jiaqing after his ascension and during Qianlong’s regency.

 

石鼓文

Stone Drum Script

圖三

Figure 3

“子臣颙琰”印和石鼓文

Seal of Zichen Yongyan and Stone Drum Script

    

圖四

Figure 4

 

 

我們這玉印有歷史和收藏價值。第一，在文獻上雖有〝永琰〞或〝颙琰〞的字畫印款，但在500多枚嘉慶玉璽或印章中，找不到一枚〝永琰〞或〝颙琰〞的印璽。第二，我們這枚〝子臣颙琰〞玉印樸素，反映出封建社會中，帝皇在訓政期間還受各種約束。第三，反映出乾隆雖然是太上皇，但實權還在他掌握中。

 

Our jade seal has historical and collectible value. Firstly, although there are records of seals with the inscriptions 〝Yongyan 永琰〞or〝Yongyan颙琰〞in the literature, among the over 500 Jiaqing jade seals or stamps, not a single one bears the inscription 〝Yongyan永琰〞〝Yongyan颙琰〞. Secondly, our 〝Zichen Yongyan子臣颙琰〞jade seal is simple, reflecting the constraints the emperor faced during the regency period in feudal society. Thirdly, it shows that although Qianlong was the Retired Emperor, he still held real power.